Kerk Choo Ting owes the Chinese community an explanation over the 100 year-old Sungei Besi Cemetery controversy

Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry and Gerakan Deputy President Kerk Choo Ting has been keeping mum on his role in the controversial relocation of Kwang Tung, Hokkien and a host of other cemeteries in Sungei Besi, Kuala Lumpur.

Kerk has acted in his capacity as the Honourable Secretary of the Selangor Hokkien Association to arrange a MoU ceremony between the association and the developer Pribena some time last year.

The MoU ceremony was witnessed by the Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohammad.

Kerk Choo Ting is seen to be a party involved in the proposed relocation of Sungei Besi cemetery. Otherwise, he would not have arranged for the MoU to be signed between his association and Pribena.

Kerk should openly state his stand now that the entire Chinese community is up against the relocation and re-development project.

If Kerk is convinced that the relocation of the cemetery to Semenyih is a good idea, he should have the guts to give his reasons and argument to the Chinese community.

The DAP has been repeatedly asking the government to make the 100 year-old Sungei Besi cemetery a national cultural heritage, as the 500 - acre cemetery comprises Kwang Tung, Hokkien, Buddhist, Christians, Hindus and Japanese cemeteries.

The cemetery contains the graves of many historic figures, such as Kapitan Yap Ah Loy and the most respectable Chinese educationist Lim Lian Geok.

It can also serve as a green lung for the overcongested capital city after some beautification work.